The German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (AHK) in 16 countries across Central and Eastern Europe in 2006 joined to establish a common survey on economic and investment conditions in the region. The aim of the survey is to provide unbiased, reliable, comparable and up‐to‐date information on these markets by asking managers of international companies operating in these countries. The survey will be conducted online, it takes only about 10 minutes to answer the questions.

Your information will be kept strictly confidential and processed anonymously. From the published results no conclusions may be drawn regarding particular participating companies.

Please complete the questionnaire until 2 March 2018 by clicking on the link below.

BCCH Foundation member, Investors in People Hungary's research has found that work flexibility, career progression, pay and poor management practices are the main reasons why companies will lose talent in 2018.

This year's findings highlight an improvement in satisfaction across the UK job market, evidencing a fall of 12% on last year’s figure, where 59% of respondents stated the intention to seek a new job.

Read the report and explore motivations, trends and ideas for retaining and nurturing talent in the year ahead, and beyond.

We are currently looking for an intern to work within the BCCH and the British Business Centre, who is primarily studying economy/law/political science/international relations and interested in commercial diplomacy.

Required profile:

- Excellent writing skills in English- Ability to learn fast- Efficiency in Excel- Knowledge of other data tools and CRM systems is a plus

Specific tasks to include:

- Assist with promotion and organisation of internal events- Work with CRM systems- Assist the BCCH finance department- Maintain trusting relationships with suppliers, customers and colleagues- Monitor level of supplies and handle shortages- Perform receptionist duties when needed- The length of the internship is 4-6-8 weeks, depending on the time and availability of the candidates.

Publicis One has today announced the appointment of Vazul Tóth as Chief Operating Officer of Publicis One in Hungary, effective 8th January 2018. Following 12 years with the agency, Kinga Mészáros, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis One and the leader of Saatchi & Saatchi in Hungary, has decided to leave, in pursuit of new challenges. Vazul brings years of valuable expertise and experience that we seek for Publicis One Hungary’s next stage growth and development. Looking ahead, 2018 will be a dynamic year. In his new role as Chief Operating Officer, Tóth has been tasked with leading the Hungarian operation –which includes Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Publicis, Zenith and Starcom - and continue the transformation process based on the Publicis One model.

Tóth spent the bulk of his career in Deloitte, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms, where he worked in markets including Australia, Netherlands, Hungary locally and across Central Europe delivering enterprise-wide performance improvements in the Telecommunications, Shared Services, Pharma and Banking industries among others, which have delivered tangible benefits to leading organisations. In 2014, he made a switch to the other side of the business, joining Vodafone as Head of Business Transformation before his most recent role with Budapest Bank as Head of Quality Management. In both of these roles, Tóth has designed and lead operational and product transformations achieving 30%+ sales increase and 20%+ customer satisfaction improvements. Since 2013, Tóth has also been serving as the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, successfully transforming the business of the organisation through a revamp of its strategy and operating model.

The Centre has been assisting Sertec for the past year and in that time the group have also become foundation members of the BCCH so, in turn, taking full advantage of the unique professional service the network has on offer, to achieve an emblematic British brand presence.

The company is a huge British automotive engineering firm, manufacturing components of all shapes and sizes within the automotive sector, supplying made to order products to all the leading car manufacturers, top of the list being JLR.

Within the group they have entities dotted all over the globe with their HQ being Birmingham where they have several sites dealing with anything from components to logistics, providing both semi-manufactured and final components to either customer direct or other Sertec sites.The company diversified into several locations putting the group collective at well over 2300 employees.

The sale of Wild Automotive to Sertec Group alone created a 250 million GBP automotive engineering powerhouse back in 2016.

BP confirmed its commitment to creating 500 new jobs by 2020 (subject to consultation), at the opening of its new shared services office in Szeged, Hungary. BP confirmed its commitment to creating 500 new jobs by 2020 (subject to consultation), at the opening of its new shared services office in Szeged, Hungary. BCCH Executive Director Csilla Csurgai visited alongside HMA Iain Lindsay OBE, they had a wonderful time and found the visit extremely useful; the BCCH will welcome BP as its new member in the near future.

Global Business Services, BP’s award-winning shared services organization, is opening the new office following the success of its other service centres across the world, which includes a major centre in Budapest. BP elected to grow its European operations in this location because of the city’s excellent infrastructure, its proximity to Budapest, and the city’s University, which produces high-calibre graduates, many of whom BP expects to recruit.

At the opening, a number of international BP representatives were joined by Levente Magyar, deputy to the minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Dr László Botka, the mayor of Szeged. The ongoing co-operation and support of local and national government bodies were highlighted in an opening speech by Vice-President of Global Business Services, Brian Puffer, who also commented on the welcoming nature of the city.

The Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE) has published research that gives new perspectives on Brexit from businesses operating in Continental Europe. The report, Brexit – the voices of European business, identifies key areas of common interest and also sets out priorities for a Brexit that secures prosperity for Europe.

A key message from the research is that business leaders across Europe feel that governments and Brexit negotiators are not listening to them and that they need clear signals from the EU and UK that will allow them to plan. Uncertainty about the process and outcome of Brexit negotiations, coupled with a potentially short timeframe for change, is already impacting investment and commercial decisions. Managing the risk that this uncertainty presents is also a drag on productivity, while wider policy progress,such as the development of the digital economy, could be delayed by the focus on Brexit.

COBCOE is presenting the report to the UK Government Department for Exiting the European Union and European Commission Taskforce on Article 50 Negotiations with the United Kingdom at meetings scheduled during September 2017. The report will also be launched at an event in London on 25 September.

The Diplomacy & Trade Magazine has sat down with BCCH Chairman Vazul Tóth, Executive Director Csilla Csurgai, and British Business Centre Manager Oliver Strommer. They have talked about how the Chamber and the Centre operate hand-in-hand, principles and business values, interest in Hungary, a little bit of Brexit and post-Brexit outlook, the division of tasks, and much more.

Please be informed that the British Government published its proposal on customs as first in a series of position papers focusing on the future of the UK’s relationship with the European Union.

The United Kingdom wants to build a new, deep and special partnership with the European Union. This paper is part of a series setting out key issues which form part of the Government’s vision for that partnership, and which will explore how the UK and the EU, working together, can make this a reality. Each paper will reflect the engagement the Government has sought from external parties with expertise in these policy areas and will draw on the very extensive work undertaken across Government since last year’s referendum. Taken together, these papers are an essential step towards building a new partnership to promote our shared interests and values.

CMS has advised Goodman, an Australian integrated commercial and industrial property group on the development of an 87,200 sqm greenfield logistics facility, which will be the largest of its kind ever built in Hungary.

The building is let to Auchan and will handle Auchan Retail Hungary’s food and non-food logistics for both existing and planned new stores, while also supporting the company’s online commerce countrywide.

CMS assisted Goodman in relation to the construction aspects and the letting of the building.

The CMS team was led by partner Gábor Czike and included senior associate András Klupács and consultant Róbert Kotsis.

Szecskay Attorneys at Law secured a major victory before the Hungarian Supreme Court (Kúria) in its representation of a major real estate development company.

The litigation, which was commenced by the Hungarian State, was aimed at establishing that the contracts by which our client acquired two real properties were null and void. The properties were first sold by the Hungarian State to the local municipality, then the municipality sold them to our client. The case concerns two high profile real properties. The value of the claim was EUR 35 million (HUF 11 billion).

On November 14, 2017, the Kúria upheld the first instance judgement of the Metropolitan Court of Budapest, which rejected the Hungarian State’s claim. The Kúria confirmed that the contracts subject to the lawsuit were not invalid. The Kúria’s judgement is noteworthy because it overturned the second instance judgement, which held that the contracts were null and void for several reasons.

András Szecskay, lead counsel in the case said: “We are extremely proud to have successfully represented our client in this high value litigation. The Kúria’s judgement concludes four years of litigation, which consisted of two first instance and two second instance proceedings. It is always difficult to overturn a second instance judgement, and we are happy to have achieved this.” Miklós Boronkay, senior associate added: “This was a complex and challenging case, both from a factual and a legal point of view. We saw two favourable first instance judgements getting overturned by the second instance court. We are therefore very pleased that we could secure the final victory.”

Organisational quality paves the way for business excellence. We all need good examples to learn from. The Hungary’s Most Excellent Companies Programme, initiated by Investors in People in partnership with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, awards organisations that apply best practice in specific organisational areas and are able to shape the business culture in Hungary, in line with the strict criteria of the Investors in People Standard.

CMS Budapest advised US medical technology company Becton Dickinson on its new plant opened at the Tatabánya industrial park, west of Budapest, following a HUF 6bn investment. The 10,500 square-meter plant will make immunology and cellular biology research reagents used for manufacturing medical products and it will reach full capacity in 2018 when it makes 8,000 different products.

The team assisting Becton Dickinson was led by Senior Associate András Klupács and Real Estate Partner Gábor Czike.

GSK Hungary is pleased to announce that Samuel (Sam) Shaw has been appointed GM Hungary as of 1 October 2017. Sam joined GSK in 2013 as Global Marketing Director in the Global Respiratory Franchise before taking on his current role. Sam is a qualified physician and prior to joining GSK, he held a variety of roles across sales, marketing and medical affairs in Astra Zeneca UK and Servier. In his new role, Sam is responsible for managing the Pharma operations in Hungary and is a member of Central Europe Leadership Team.

Claire Roger, who lead GSK HU since 2015, has been appointed Commercial Director, Vaccines New Assets, France.